Hanging By A Thread
by reflekshun
Summary: Will Holmes find his Boswell in time? He's cutting it pretty close, because Watson is really, well, hanging by a thread.
1. Chapter 1

Hanging By A Thread, Chapter The First.

A/N Hi, everyone, I'm BA-AK! I hope that you have as much fun reading this as I have had putting it together.

It was a beautiful crisp October day. Watson was walking home from his surgery, taking the long way home, and admiring the scenery. He strolled along, woolgathering, and taking in the reds, goldens, and brown hues to be found in the trees, as well as the pumpkins and corn and colorful ribbons and candles that decorated the porches. All in all, it made for a lovely walk, even if it did go right past the docks and sort of smell like fish for a bit of the walk. It went by a pretty nice pub, it did, and that seemed to the good (dry) doctor to be compensation enough indeed.

Yes, he thought about many adventures that he had had with Sherlock Holmes, for almost every place that he laid his eyes had something to do with one or the other of them. Here was where he had gotten the cab to come and collect Holmes in that case about the French forger, and right over there was where Holmes had gotten knifed by that arsonist, (for a while, they thought that he was going to graduate to a murderer.) And right over there was that pub that he remembered being there. He thought that he would darken it's doors for old time's sake. He figured that that was a perfectly good idea. So did the person watching him.

About three- quarters of an hour later, Watson emerged from the pub. The sun was starting to set as he made his way back to more frequented roads. A child ran up to him. " You carry a bag like a doctor. Are you a doctor ? My Daddy grabbed his chest and fell over and he needs help! This way..." She ran into a dark warehouse, with the alarmed medic following her. Watson really never saw it coming. He leaned over the man to listen for breath sounds and the man raised up and clouted the astonished doctor.


	2. Chapter 2 Hanging By A Thread

Hanging By A Thread, Chapter the Second.

Firstly, I must thank the lovely Mrs. Pencil for reading and leaving a wonderful review. I live for those. Best dishes, dear, and have a great week.

Charlock221, thank you so much for reading and reviewing.

Watson awoke by degrees. For a while the doctor fancied he was in his bed. He was lying somewhere with a pillow beneath his head. Then Watson noticed that his hands were folded over his chest. He did not usually sleep like that. In moving his hands, Watson felt the sides of a lined box. His eyes snapped open. Instead of being greeted by moonlight filtering through the windows of his room, his eyes were met by inky blackness.

"Oh, dear God in Heaven, I'm in a coffin! Don't panic, man, think. Let's take stock of the situation, and see what's to be done," thought the doctor.

It was the work of a moment to feel around the confines of the box to find that, yes, it was a coffin, and rather a small one at that. That meant that Watson had to be still and calm to conserve air. He prayed a fervent prayer that Sherlock Holmes found him in time, for he was certain that one of the detective's cases was responsible for this.

Sherlock Holmes ran harder than he had in a long time, but his quarry finally came into view. He and Detective Inspector Lestrade had been chasing a thief for about fifteen minutes and were in the mews down by the docks. Holmes heard the thief's distinctive footsteps echoing in the swirling fog, and ducked behind some stacked packing crates and waited. He smiled to himself as the felon drew nearer and nearer...

Leaping on his prey, he pulled out a pair of darbies from under his cloak.

"Ya ain't going to put them on me," sneered the villain.

"Oh? And pray tell, why not?" asked the detective.

"'Cause then I won't tell ya where yer doctor pal is, and ya do wanna know, don't ya?


	3. Chapter 3

Hanging by a Thread, Chapter the Fourth.

About two blocks away from the spot on the sidewalk where Holmes was bargaining with the thief to find out where he had left Watson, Cupcake was holding the door to his house for Watson.

"Welcome to my home. These are my two sons, Michael and Eric, and this is my wife, Flora. Please enter, and make yourself at home." To his wife, he said "Dear, with the morning that we had, we could both use a strong cuppa. Would you mind to put the kettle on while our guest and I get washed up?"

Cupcake's wife put the kettle on, while Cupcake quickly got together a suit of his old clothes, and showed Watson to the bath, where he could get cleaned up. He handed the clothes to Watson, and stepped back into the kitchen to give the physician some privicy.

Watson stepped back into the kitchen about fifteen minutes later. He was wiping his face, favoring a bad cut over his left eye. The clothes were large on Watson, but not too large to still be rather comfortable. Cupcake looked at the doctor's eye, which was starting to swell closed.

"How are you feeling now? I am afraid that I caused the cut over your eye. Let my wife bandage it for you, would you please? She is much better than I am at that sort of thing."

"With two boys to take care of, I've had plenty of practice...just hold still." A few minutes later, she was finished taking care of Watson's head. "There you are. That should be all right for right now." She filled his cup for him, and set out some poppy seed roll with butter. At a look from their mother, both boys went to wash up. They looked to be about thirteen and fifteen years old. They were both short and wiry, like their father, but raven-haired and with green eyes like their mother.

Watson took the cup from Flora. "Oh, dear woman, that smells wonderful. Is it Oolong?"

"Why, yes it is. I hope you enjoy it. I have regular tea, if you prefer."

"Oh, no. I adore Oolong. That will be a treat, thank you."

At last the table was ready and everyone gathered 'round. It was a tight fit, but there was room enough for everyone.

"Now tell us what has happened. Whatever happened to your eye, and how is it that you came back with my husband? He has brought home many strays before now, but he has never brought back another person when he went to dig for worms." ventured Flora, eying Watson curiously.

"Actually, dear lady, there is not much that I can tell you. You see, I cannot remember anything. I think that the injury to my eye might have something to do with that, but upon my word, I have no idea how that came about. For that, we must ask your husband." Everyone's gaze swung from Watson to Cupcake.

"Well, I went down to the wharf, where I usually dig for worms. That was when I noticed that the ground had already been dug up. Then the shovel seemed to have hit a rock, at least that is what I thought the matter was. I leaned hard on the shovel, and I'm afraid that the extra force that I applied is responsible for the injury to your eye." Cupcake looked shamefacedly at his shoes. "I think that it shattered the coffin that you were in..."

"Coffin?" exclaimed Flora, Eric and Michael in unison.

"Yes, coffin." confirmed Cupcake. " Someone apparantly buried this man alive. I do not know why. I was astonished to find a face at my feet, and I just about dropped when he moved and spoke. As soon as he got out of that hole, we came home. We seem to have a problem, now. If you cannot remember who you are and where you belong, how are we supposed to find out who is missing without the wrong party finding out where you are?"


	4. Chapter 4

Hanging by a Thread, Chapter the Fourth.

About two blocks away from the spot on the sidewalk where Holmes was bargaining with the thief to find out where he had left Watson, Cupcake was holding the door to his house for Watson.

"Welcome to my home. These are my two sons, Michael and Eric, and this is my wife, Flora. Please enter, and make yourself at home." To his wife, he said "Dear, with the morning that we had, we could both use a strong cuppa. Would you mind to put the kettle on while our guest and I get washed up?"

Cupcake's wife put the kettle on, while Cupcake quickly got together a suit of his old clothes, and showed Watson to the bath, where he could get cleaned up. He handed the clothes to Watson, and stepped back into the kitchen to give the physician some privicy.

Watson stepped back into the kitchen about fifteen minutes later. He was wiping his face, favoring a bad cut over his left eye. The clothes were large on Watson, but not too large to still be rather comfortable. Cupcake looked at the doctor's eye, which was starting to swell closed.

"How are you feeling now? I am afraid that I caused the cut over your eye. Let my wife bandage it for you, would you please? She is much better than I am at that sort of thing."

"With two boys to take care of, I've had plenty of practice...just hold still." A few minutes later, she was finished taking care of Watson's head. "There you are. That should be all right for right now." She filled his cup for him, and set out some poppy seed roll with butter. At a look from their mother, both boys went to wash up. They looked to be about thirteen and fifteen years old. They were both short and wiry, like their father, but raven-haired and with green eyes like their mother.

Watson took the cup from Flora. "Oh, dear woman, that smells wonderful. Is it Oolong?"

"Why, yes it is. I hope you enjoy it. I have regular tea, if you prefer."

"Oh, no. I adore Oolong. That will be a treat, thank you."

At last the table was ready and everyone gathered 'round. It was a tight fit, but there was room enough for everyone.

"Now tell us what has happened. Whatever happened to your eye, and how is it that you came back with my husband? He has brought home many strays before now, but he has never brought back another person when he went to dig for worms." ventured Flora, eying Watson curiously.

"Actually, dear lady, there is not much that I can tell you. You see, I cannot remember anything. I think that the injury to my eye might have something to do with that, but upon my word, I have no idea how that came about. For that, we must ask your husband." Everyone's gaze swung from Watson to Cupcake.

"Well, I went down to the wharf, where I usually dig for worms. That was when I noticed that the ground had already been dug up. Then the shovel seemed to have hit a rock, at least that is what I thought the matter was. I leaned hard on the shovel, and I'm afraid that the extra force that I applied is responsible for the injury to your eye." Cupcake looked shamefacedly at his shoes. "I think that it shattered the coffin that you were in..."

"Coffin?" exclaimed Flora, Eric and Michael in unison.

"Yes, coffin." confirmed Cupcake. " Someone apparantly buried this man alive. I do not know why. I was astonished to find a face at my feet, and I just about dropped when he moved and spoke. As soon as he got out of that hole, we came home. We seem to have a problem, now. If you cannot remember who you are and where you belong, how are we supposed to find out who is missing without the wrong party finding out where you are?"


	5. Chapter 5

Hanging By A Thread, chapter the Fifth.

I did not mean for the next install to be so late, but life got quite hectic and I had a lot going on. My roommate's dog, Bear, is paralyzed now because of a back injury. The vet says that it is common in long bodied dogs, and she gave us medicine for him. Tiny, my roommate is learning how to tend to a paralyzed dog, and we are doing well now. Life is settling back down again, and I hope to get some more writing done. Thanks for understanding.

Guest- Thanks for sending the email that got me going chappie's for you.

Bluerosebud-Thank you for your insights. I'm so glad that you liked the story so far, and I hope that you continue to enjoy it.

Mrs. Pencil- I am glad that you read and reviewed, and I hope that you are having as much fun reading this story as I am writing it. China dishes. Have a great week.

Watson regarded Cupcake thoughtfully. "That is a good question. We do not know who we can trust and who we must avoid. We also do not know why someone buried me alive, and I do not know who I am."

"I don't know how anyone could do such a dispicable thing to anyone, or what reason they could possibly have to justify such a thing. I thought that never in my day would I see anything like this. How does your eye feel? Here is some more ice for it." Mrs. Cupcake handed him a towel with the ice wrapped around it. "You are going to need some place to stay. I do not think that you should be very far from us. People come and go down by these docks all the time. There is a shed out back where my husband and boys keep their fishing things. You could stay out there if you want, but it is supposed to be cold tonight, and I think that you would be warmer in here with us. You can say that you are an old fishing buddy of my husband's, and you can go out fishing with him and my sons. That story should do you until we know who you are and why someone is so very angry with you. How does that sound to you?"

From around the table, Watson heard small mutterings of agreement. "That sounds like a well-thought-out plan, Mrs. Cupcake. And I think that I should stay here in the warm house with you and your family tonight. Thank you for the lovely invitation."

And thus it was settled that Watson would stay where he was and learn how to fish.


End file.
